Page 30 of Pretty Vengeance

“You’re not manhandling my friend, are you?” Her head tilts, faux casual, to match her tone. “Hands off, please.”

“Your friend?” Brad scoffs, his incredulity fading when he notes Ash isn’t joking. “Since when?” His hard eyes ping-pong between us.

“Brad,” Crosby says with a side nod that signals Brad to let me go.

My tormenter releases my arm and gives me a small shove away from him.

“So, Ash, how’s your cousin?” Crosby’s tone is surprisingly facilitative, like a cat trying to lure a canary from its cage.

“He’s as pretty as ever. Lucky for you.” Ash’s tone is cool and faintly amused.

My brother’s bruise suddenly makes sense. Are these the guys Jamie got into a fight with? Given that Crosby has bowling balls for shoulders, I’m surprised Jamie doesn’t have more than a swollen lip.

“Glad to hear it.” Crosby steps onto the bench, causing the legs of the picnic table to sink deeper into the grass.

The movement causes Ash’s phone to slide off the edge of her leg. Her hand shoots out and catches it before it drops. Reflexes for days.

Crosby sits next to her. “Hey, listen, I shouldn’t have been so aggressive. Too many drinks. I misunderstood what was going on in the booth. Sorry about that.” His fake friendliness causes my spine to stiffen. “But Ash.” His meaty paw touches his side. “He cracked one of my ribs with that pool cue.”

Ash cocks her head, eyeing him speculatively and seemingly unmoved by his snakelike smile.

“A cracked rib means I can’t lift.” He clucks his tongue in admonishment. “And if I can’t lift for a couple weeks, I have a hole in my schedule.” His index finger points at her. “A hole I want you to help me fill. That’s only fair.” He chuckles, sounding like a rhino with a stuffed nose. “Wouldn’t you agree, Allendale?” He looks to my brother for back-up.

“Allendale?” Ash’s eyes give us a once-over. “Are you related to this guy, Sawyer?”

“She’s not a real Allendale.” Brad crosses his arms, as if to put up yet another barrier against me. “Adopted by my mother, who was only an Allendale by marriage.”

Only by marriage, so less than?I glare at him. This is the way he speaks about his dead mother. Celine was worth twenty of any blood Allendale. She was amazing.

Ignoring our family dysfunction, Crosby turns back toward Ash. “Look, things were going well. I don’t want last night to get in the way. Let me make it up to you. How about dinner in New York?”

Her exhalation of breath is a scoff. “Definitely not.” As she starts to rise, he reaches for her arm but then thinks better of it.

“All right, not New York. Anywhere you want. Name the place.”

Climbing down, she tucks her phone in her pocket. “You were jealous, Cros. That I get. But your friend is an asshole.” She tosses a withering look in Brad’s direction before returning her attention to Bergmann. “For you to have any shot at all, when I see your face next, I shouldn’t see his.”

I tilt my head down to mask my smile. Anyone seeing Brad for who he really is and casually taking him down a peg has my undying admiration.

From his expression, Brad’s apoplectic with rage. “Fucking bitch,” he mutters.

“Got it,” Crosby says to Ash, trying to drown him out.

Ash hooks an arm through mine and tugs me along with her. I allow myself to smile.

When we’re far enough away, I say, “I didn’t realize you knew my brother.”

“I don’t really. But he’s not going to treat you like shit in front of me and get away with it. Fuck him.”

The urge to hug her seizes me, but I resist since we’re walking. “Are you dating Crosby?”

“No, I went on two dates with him after he intervened at a bar when someone was hassling me and a friend. I thought Crosby was a decent guy.”

“And now?”

She smirks darkly. “I think he doesn’t realize how lucky he is that Jamie brought him to his knees with that pool cue.”

I peer over my shoulder at my brother and his friend as they stroll away in the opposite direction. “You don’t scare easily, do you?”